GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

We got the car about 2 weeks ago.. Haven't even had the chance to drive it more then a few times..On the way home after getting something to eat.. We get a green arrow and go through the Intersection... about 5 seconds later a car coming head on decides he doesn't want to stop and blows right through a bright red light.We were just leaving the light, so I'm guessing got going about 10-15mph.. and my guess for the red light runner is around 45mph+I'm just glad the Vibe was safe.. Airbags didn't go off.. and it looks pretty bad.. but everyone is okay.. both of us are pretty much okay, besides being a little sore.The intersection had cameras and we had a witness.. the red light runner was given a ticket at the time... so he is legally at fault.. guess that's all taken care of..We were told the damage is - - - - -$6,174! ouch.. little frame damage but everything looks fixable.. I'm upset because the car will never be the same..

Sorry to hear that.

Oww.... thats not cool at all. But the good news is your safe and it was not your fault.

dude, that sucks. Glad your both ok. Some people should not be driving. Glad you had witnesses. Hope the car gets fixed quickly.

Good to hear that you guys are OK. If you get it fixed by a good mechanic you will never know that it was in an accident. Good luck.By the way gotta give a shout out to my peeps from the QCA!!! Finally another Iowa person.

damn that sucksbut at least you are not hurt bad, could have been worse.Hope you all and the car are recovered soon.

Oooooh! Sorry to hear about your accident. Glad you and you family are OK!Hope you get her back soon.

glad to hear you both made it out safely, sorry to hear about your vibe though.

Sorry about your car but I'm glad you made it out safely and ok. Cars can be replaced, people can't.I just hate people that blow right through red lights like that! They should have their licenses taken away.Wishing both you and your Vibe a speedy recovery!

good to hear y'all are ok. kinda weird that the airbags didn't go off. hate to sound this way, but I'd sue the crap-ola out of the guy if I could.

Good thing you are all ok hope your car gets fixed fast.

Glad to hear that you two are okay. A shame that you haven't had much of a chance to enjoy it, but it looks like it protected you well.I'm still a little puzzled as to why the airbags didn't deploy, but at least you won't need those replaced as well.

Man, that sucks. But at least you are OK. Hope the Vibe gets better soon.

That jacka$$ must be color blind...he didn't see the BRIGHT RED stop light or the BRIGHT RED car! Doh!Sorry to hear about the wreck, but glad you're OK.Hope everything gets fixed quickly for you.

Quote, originally posted by grass »I'm just glad the Vibe was safe.. Airbags didn't go off.. and it looks pretty bad.. but everyone is okay.. both of us are pretty much okay, besides being a little sore.I am not sure how it is supposed to work, but it seems like if the airbags didn't go off, and all of the occupants are pretty much okay, then maybe the airbags didn't need to go off. Maybe I'm just being naive (again) but I'd think the airbag controller is smart enough to decide which impacts justify blowing the bags and which ones don't, or at least that it is programmed to make those decisions. But pay attention to the soreness. Sometimes the physical effects of an accident don't show up immediately.

You can never fix it as good as it was before because, at least in Ohio, when you go to trade that car in they will have you sign a form disclosing any accidents that car was in. A car that was in an accident like yours will be worth less in trade. Tell that guy's insurance company the car was two weeks old and you want a new car. They can have your old one. Or at least they should give you some compensation to relect the loss in value stigma that this car will always be burdened with. Don't be quick to sign off on any release of personal injury claims. One - they may be slow to develop. Two - you can hold that over their heads.

I know how you feel. I just got my vibe and was rearended by a suspended, drunk, hit and run driver. he hit me and tried to run. But Im an MP so he didnt get far. I do know that our vibes are faster than civics now cause he was booking it when I cought him. Vibes drift too with stock tires and no drop.

Sorry for you,glad you are ok.The important is that your safe and your family.All other things can be fixed.

Sorry for your car. Happy to see you're OK. If he was two seconds later, he would hit your door...

Wow, glad you're both OK. thats the important part!Looks like the vibe held up pretty well in the crash, but they do get that 5 star rating for a reason! Our first vibe gave its "life" saving our sons life, and thats what its all about. Hope your up and vibin' again real soon!

That sucks. Glad to see you guys are ok though! Here's to a speedy recovery.

haha yeah the bright light vibe after you blow the bright red light.. I guess that's kinda funny.. he looked out of it.. and I think his insurance people said he was on some kind of meds.rlfreese - sorry to hear about your ride.. good to hear you didn't let him get away though haha..I am upset knowing the car will in one way or another never be the SAME.. we're gonna rub that all over the place.. the car was less then 2 weeks old and if/when we goto sell it someday the trade in will be hurt.. so far the damage doesn't need to be reported.. by some law in iowa I guess we're under by about $500 is what the shop said.Iowa city huh? that's where my fiancee lives and is going to school.Lot of people from TX also.. just moved from Houston.thanks for all the thinking..

man I wish I had video of my fiancee after the wreck.. she was SO mad.. I JUST GOT THIS CAR, I LOVE THIS CAR, THAT AS*HO*E, I'M GOING TO KILL SOMEONE!she's a nice person... first time i've heard this side of her vocab.. she loves the vibe and we're getting it fixed or replaced.

I'm sorry about this accident, but at least you seemingly came out of it without damage. Obviously the same can't be said about the Vibe. Don't be too quick to sign off on anything, because you may have suffered in ways that aren't immediately apparent.As a side note: Frontal airbags are for front-end collisions. Being hit from the side, as you were (or at least the damage indicates this was the case) wouldn't set them off. They are set for collisions from certain angles. If you'd had side airbags, they would have deployed.Which reminds me... In 1965, I was broadsided by a drunk. Seatbelts weren't mandatory back then, but I thought it was a good idea and had installed a set I bought at K-Mart for $4.95. In that accident, my foot was somehow caught between the seat and the door, and being hit caused my car to quickly rotate a couple of times. I was later told that had the seatbelt not held me in place that my leg would have been torn off and I would have bled to death right there.What I'm saying, gals and guys, is BUCKLE THOSE THINGS!. Have your friends and loved ones do it, too.

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Quote, originally posted by grass »...The intersection had cameras and we had a witness.. the red light runner was given a ticket at the time... so he is legally at fault.. guess that's all taken care of..Your situation of having the guy caught on camera for the sake of prosecution and establishing liability is the ONLY good thing that can come out of having red light cameras!A recent study found that they do NOT decrease accidents or save lives... just make buckets full of money for the municipalities.

Wow, just saw this, glad everyone was safe!Your incident reminded me of my incident early this year, similar damage and cost for repair, except on the opposite side. The Vibe held up in both instances, glad to see that!

Quote, originally posted by esjones »A recent study found that they do NOT decrease accidents or save lives... just make buckets full of money for the municipalities.One of the studies I read said they potentially -increase- accidents due to people spotting them and slamming on the brakes at the last second. So you get more rear-ends than red-light drive-thrus.

Glad to hear you're ok. Three months after we bought our Vibe, we got rear ended. Looked like lots of damage, and it did require a replacement of the rear bumber and some work on the front bumper (we got pushed into the car in front of us). No big deal, and I plan on driving this car until it falls apart, so I don't care about resale. I felt sore as for the next few days as well, and started to realize my neck hurt a little. It wasn't bad, and I didn't let it affect my life too much. But you should report everything before you sign off on any payments. I was completely honest with the insurance company (in Canada, however) and they ended up offering me $1000 in addition to paying for the repairs.Always report medical issues. You never know what'll happen in the future.

sorry to hear about all the other wrecks .. but looks like everything ended up working out for you guys too.That's a funny point about the redlight photos.. fact that one ended up helping us out in some way.. still hate them good point about the seatbelts houston.... our night might have been worse without them.glad to hear you ended up okay from the wreck.. it looks pretty bad.I'll keep the forum posted when I get updates.Nick

Glad everyone was ok after all is said and done.I've noticed many more people running reds / late yellows. It's gotten so bad on my commute - when I get an arrow or green light on some intersections, I still look both ways.I'll rue the day someone runs a red and slams into me... they'll be giving me a ticket for kicking his/her (removed) after I drag them out of their car.And if they had a cell phone in their hand - the EMS will be doing a cellphone-ectomy...Other than that - I'm a nice friendly driver.

Quote, originally posted by binary »I'll rue the day someone runs a red and slams into me... they'll be giving me a ticket for kicking his/her (removed) after I drag them out of their car.haha man my fiancee would have done the same thing! if I wasn't holding her back.. Well we half way got the Vibe back a few weeks ago.. after the stealership 'fixed' it, I noticed all kinds of small mistakes or damage that wasn't there before the wreck.Like the overspray on the outside of the door and weatherstripping, the fender that doesn't line up, the front bumper that seems to be warped, few screws missing under the hood, and the hood that doesn't sit stright.We took it back in to have everything corrected.. wanting the car as close as it could be back to normal.. 2 days later we're called to pick it up, so we go get it, and less then half the stuff is fixed.. my fiancee needed the car back so we setup a time next week (a few days ago)Again we're called to come get it.. now the fender is lose, and things still get looked over..I think they could tell we're losing our patients at this point.. so he tells us it will be done by noon the next day, and he's looking it over himself this time.I won't even get started on the car rentel... it was even worse then the dealership.After about a month and a half we have it back.. close to normal from what I can tell..

it's amazing how much a accident takes from us. and this idiot is still out there driving. who knows how many red lights he's run since he hit you.2 cars ago, i got into an accident where a astro van came from behind me tried pasing me on a 1 way, 1 lane street. his argument was that i stopped at a intersection without a stop sign. i did stop. i hadn't been there in years and wasn't sure if there was a stop sign. there was alot of trees. so he decided to pass on the parking lane as i starting making my turn. he never even slowed down. the repair shop didn't do a great job at fixing my car.

Quote, originally posted by Houston »Which reminds me... In 1965, I was broadsided by a drunk. Seatbelts weren't mandatory back then, but I thought it was a good idea and had installed a set I bought at K-Mart for $4.95. In that accident, my foot was somehow caught between the seat and the door, and being hit caused my car to quickly rotate a couple of times. I was later told that had the seatbelt not held me in place that my leg would have been torn off and I would have bled to death right there.What I'm saying, gals and guys, is BUCKLE THOSE THINGS!. Have your friends and loved ones do it, too.Wow thats an old looking pic...

Quote, originally posted by grass »I think they could tell we're losing our patients at this point.. so he tells us it will be done by noon the next day, and he's looking it over himself this time.I won't even get started on the car rentel... it was even worse then the dealership.After about a month and a half we have it back.. close to normal from what I can tell.. Been there on the Ford side of things too - they had our first new car for almost a month and gave us a Escort Zx3 as a rental, but only after kicking and screaming to get a replacement after they had our car for three days.Glad you got your ride back - there's nothing like your own set of wheels. I hope you beat the snot out of your rental.

I don't know what that (N) does on an automatic.. but I kept putting it on (N) NOS? and holding the gas, then moving it to that big (D).As slow as it looked, it wasn't half bad, the things I beat in it was pretty funny...

yea thats how i was with mine 6 months after i got mine i was in a finder bender with a camary.heres the end result to my fender bender.